Cuts to China import duties on 200 items are good news

Starting this month the will be changes to nearly 200 China import duties that will cuts costs to Chinese consumers buying from abroad, typically online.

China is cutting import tariffs on 187 consumer goods including whisky to cashmere clothes. Tariffs will drop from an average 17.3% to 7.7% on products also 8mcluding pharmaceuticals, food, health supplements and clothing.

The changes to these China import duties serve several purposes. One is a another signal from the Ch8nese government that the country is keen to open up its economy and become more of a free trading nation. The other concern regards the Chinese government encouraging Chinese shoppers to do more of their shopping at home rather than travelling abroad to buy their overseas bargains.

Doug Lippoldt is the chief trade economist at HSBC and says of the move: “The reduction of import tariffs on clothing, dairy products, food and other consumer items mean domestic suppliers will have to become more competitive, which will benefit the Chinese economy and consumers in the long run. It would also help Chinese manufacturers if the government looked at the liberalisation of services, such as accountancy, telecoms and IT. I think trade partners in advanced economies will see this as a step in the right direction.”

As we’ve noted numerous times over recent months, China is increasingly becoming a vital overseas importing nation with hundreds of millions of keen customers for marketplace sellers and that trend is only going to continue.

Ian A

12 months ago

There’s no tax on items in my industry (watches) anyway as they send them over in thousands of little packets and just declare ‘1 dollar, parts’